Risks
by Lord Shade
Summary: To take a risk is to put yourself in the most vulnerable position there is. It's a gamble. But sometimes it's better to take a near-impossible risk than to ask yourself "what if?" Taang one-shot with OC


Posted at 5:27 a.m.

The idea for this fic has been bouncing in my head for a while now, and I'm hoping that this little plot bunny will finally let me sleep at night. I'm not completely happy with the way it ended, so tell me what you think. This might not be the last you see of my OC. I haven't decided yet. Maybe if you review...

Disclaimer: I haven't had my morning cup of coffee and muffin, so I'm having trouble coming up with a more creative way to say that I own NOTHING of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Actually...that wasn't half-bad.

**Risks**

"Lady Bei Fong, the guests have arrived."

The servant's only reply was an annoyed sigh followed by a bored sounding "I'll be right there."

_I hate these things _she thought bitterly. She had been home for only a week and already her parents were throwing suitors at her. True she had more freedom than she had four years ago before the war ended, but that didn't stop _them_ from trying to turn her into a proper lady.

As she followed the servant down the hall, her sixth sense told her that four people were already in the dining room.

_Let's get this over with._

She felt the men in the room rise as she entered. "And here is my lovely daughter Toph. Toph, I would like to introduce you to General Yakko and his son Tai."

_Wow, a General's son. If I cared a hog-monkey's butt, I might be impressed._

Whether or not she cared, proper etiquette demanded that she bow to her guests. "Hello, it's nice to meet you," she said for the millionth time since reaching marrying age. "I am honored to have such esteemed guests in our home." _Kill me now kill me now kill me now…_

"The honor is all mine. It's not everyday that you meet the legendary Toph Bei Fong," said General Yakko. She allowed herself a small smile as she felt her parents cringe very slightly at the mention of her fame. They still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that their delicate blind daughter was responsible for ending the war.

Dinner in the Bei Fong residence was absolute torture. Toph spent most of the time at the table playing with her food, which earned her scowls of disapproval from her father, and spoke only when spoken to. The less she talked, the sooner she would get this over with.

"So your father told me that you just turned sixteen."

"Yeah."

"Have you been Goaling long?"

"No."

Tai tried talking to her a few times, but Toph wasn't really interested in having a conversation with somebody who was only here because of her money. The sooner this godforsaken dinner ended, the sooner she could go back outside and practice her earthbending.

After what seemed like an eternity and a half, dinner was _finally _over and Toph allowed herself a small sigh of relief. She was about to get up and leave when she heard Tai speak. "Lady Bei Fong, would you accompany me for a walk around the garden?"

Nothing would have made Toph happier than to scream no and then bend the jerk _into_ the garden, but she would probably get in trouble for turning the guy down. But help her god, if he tried to get as handsy as the last guy that asked for a walk, she was going to kill him, and then herself so that she wouldn't have to endure this torture again.

They walked through the lush Bei Fong garden in silence. Tai's heart was speeding up a little, which meant that he was getting ready to talk. _Here we go.... _He was probably going to start making this lame speech about how beautiful he thought she was and some equally lame request to see her again.

Sigh.

_They're all the same..._

"You don't like me very much, do you?" Tai asked, breaking the silence.

For the first time in a long time, Toph was shocked beyond words.

Her shock must've shown on her face, because she heard him laugh. "It's okay. I wouldn't like me very much either if I was in your position."

"Uh...well, I'm sure you're nice, but...I don't really like having guys being pushed on me by my parents."

That got another laugh from Tai. "I understand. If it were up to me, I would be with my friends right now. I'm only here to shut my dad up. He's obsessed with me getting a 'nice, Earth Kingdom lady'."

Toph's sixth sense told her that he wasn't lying. _Maybe this one's different. _

Toph and Tai spent the next fifteen minutes in the garden talking (and complaing about their parents). Tai was funny and insightful. He had a way of talking that made nothing uncomfortable or awkward, so it was easy to talk him. Turns out that he already had a girlfriend, but Tai's father thought that a general's son should be with someone more distinguished than a common Earth Kingdom waitress and forced him to come here. Tai and her had a lot in common, but Toph didn't think that they could be more than good friends.

Then Tai asked her a question that caught her off guard. "Why are you here?"

"What?"

"You're THE Toph Bei Fong. You should be out there beating up Fire Nation rebels, or traveling the world helping the reconstruction projects. I wouldn't expect to find the world's greatest earthbender here, living with her parents."

Toph smiled slightly. "I'm here because I love my parents. They drive me crazy, but it hurt me being away from them when I was traveling with Aang. No matter what, they just want the best for me. But I miss it..."

"Do you miss the traveling or the Avatar."

"What?!" she asked with a tomato red face.

Tai laughed at her expression. "You get this dreamy, far-away look in your face whenever you mention traveling with him. It's kind of hard to miss."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she said defensively.

"Uh-huh. So why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing!" She could feel her face get even hotter.

"You're not a very good liar."

"I don't like Aang! So shut up!"

"I never said you did. I just asked if you missed the traveling."

"Oh..."

...

"So you like the Avatar, huh?"

"Shut up." He was laughing again.

"Does he know?"

"Know what?"

"That you like him."

"I don't...." She sighed in defeat. "No. He has no I idea about how I feel about him."

"You should tell him."

"It's not that easy."

"Why not?"

"Because he's the Avatar. He doesn't need a teacher to travel with him now that he's mastered earthbending. It's not that bad, though. He still writes to me. And I still get to travel around the Earth Kingdom and help with the reconstruction efforts. I would just slow him down."

He was laughing again (a habit Toph was starting to find _very_ annoying). "You're not the kind of person that would slow anybody down. You're the kind of person that would yell _at _the person slowing you down. I'm sure that he misses you just as much as you miss him. The way I see it, you could continue living the way are right now, living with your parents, getting the occasional letter, and being set up with annoying suitors like me, or you could take a risk and go tell the Avatar."

A few moments of silence passed between the two as Toph contemplated Tai's words.

"Let's go inside," Tai said. "If we stay out here any longer, our parents are going to think we're getting along. And we don't want them to think that, do we?"

A small smile crossed Toph's face. "No, we don't."

* * *

"We had a lovely time, Mister Bei Fong."

"It was nice to see you again, General Yakko. We hope to see you and your son again soon."

It took all of Toph's strength not to roll her blind eyes. The adults obviously wanted to set up another meeting between the two teens and see if they got along well and see if there was a possible marriage in the future. Her parents must be on Cloud-Nine, thinking that they had finally found a boy for their independent daughter to be with. She didn't have the heart to burst their bubble.

"I look forward to it," Tai said to her parents. Now he turned to her. "Lady Bei Fong, I also hope to see you again."

Toph smiled at the racing hearts of her parents. "So do I."

Tai and his father bowed one more time and left.

* * *

As the most tolerant to pain and insults, it was decided that Sun would be the servant that had to wake up Toph (who was _not _a morning person).

She took a deep breathe, prayed to every deity and spirit she had ever heard off, crossed her fingers hoping that today wouldn't be the day that the blind girl decided that she had had enough of the early morning calls, and entered the room with a large, fake smile on her face.

"Good morning, Lady Bei Fong!" She was shaking.

"It's time to rise and prepare for the long day ahead."

_I don't get paid enough for this. _

Surprisingly, there was no threat to her life if she didn't leave like there usually was. Infact, there was no movement from the large queen size bed at all.

"Lady Bei Fong?"

Sun pulled the blankets back and instead of finding a grumpy sixteen year old, there were only pillows arranged to appear like someone was in the bed. And on top of the fluffy pile, there was a hand written note.

_Dear Mom and Dad, _

_I've decided to take a risk and go for it. _

_Love, Toph. _


End file.
